Automobile-lock.



T. C. RIEBEvl AUTOMOBILE LOCK.

APPucATloN r|LED1uNE13,|917.

1,276, 1 1 6. Patented Aug. 2o, 191s.

ff-1 3 qmnm y UNITED STATES 4PATENT oFFIcE.

THEODORE C. RIEBE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ROGERS MOTOR LOCK lCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

' AUTOMOBILE-LOCK.

Application led .Tune 13, 1917. Serial No. 174,466.

To all whom z't may concern:

Be it known that I, THrzoDoRE C. RIEBE, a citizen of the United States,and .resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automobile-Locks,of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to locking devices for automobiles and particularlyto an improvement on the lock shown in the patent to William l. Conley,No. 1,181,571, dated May 2, 1916, Patent No. 1,238,945 to Rogers & Riebedated Sept. 4, 1917, and co-pending application Ser. No. 174,468, filedof even date herewith.

An obj ect in the present construction is to provide a lock which shallbe 'impregnable to attack and the operation of which is not affected bythe rotation of the flexible con' nection between the lock and thevalve. To secure the desired result it has been found desirable tooperate the valve by a member which is pushed and pulled asdistinguished' from a rotatable member. In the present instance I employa stiii' wire located at the axis of a novel armored conductor, thevalve bein operated by a longitudinal thrust applie to the wire. Toaccomplish this result the rotary movement of the lockingv element mustbe changed to a reciprocating movement and certain novel means areemployed for accomplishing this result. Fundamentally, however, theinvention contemplates the employment in connection with a rotary lockof a longitudinally, slidable valve operating member, the operatingmember being in the form of a wire and being closely conined at the axisof a flexible conductor. This conductor is composed of a plurality ofindependent ball and socket elements.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a face view of a lock constructed in accordance with myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the lin-e 4-4 of Fig. 3;

' Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 ofFig. 3, and,

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the-line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

In the drawings it 4will be seen that the locking device is inclosedwithin a casing 10, the casing being suitably held in an opening in thedash 11, of an automobile. A screw-cap 12, is fitted to the open end ofthe casing and serves to confine the operating parts therein when thelock is inunlocked position. and the valve (not shown) is by means of astiff wire 13, which is inclosed within an armored cable. The cable iscomposed of sections, each section comprising a ball 14, and a socket15. A longitudinal axial opening through the element is provided for thewire. Suliicient clearance is provided between adjacent sections topermit of the necessary flexibility of the conductor, this beingaccomplished without binding the inclosed wire.

The ball 14, of the extreme section is accommodated within the socketend of a cylinder 16, welded within the opening in the end wall of thecasing 10. The end of the wire is formed into a hook 17, which engages aplug 18, accommodated within the hollow end of a bolt 19. `After theplug 18, is in? serted, a washer 20, having an axial opening 21considerably larger than the wire is 4inserted and the end of the boltcrimped thereover. By this means a swivel connection is made between thewire and the nonrotatable bolt. Inasmuch as the sections of PatentedAuw. 2o, 191s.

The connection between the lock the conductor permit swiveling and thewire is rotatably connected to the lock, it will be The bolt 19, isthreaded into a U-shaped member 22, and further secured byl a nut 23.The legs of the U-shaped member or yoke 22, en age with pins 24, 25,which project from t e sides of the gears 26, 27, these gears beingmounted on pivots fixed to an inner frame member 28. The apertures 29,in the legs of the member 22, for engagement with the pins 24, 25, arein the form of slots, as best shown in Fig. 4. The gears 26, 27 engagewith a gear 30, which is secured to the barrel 31, of a lock by screws32, and pins 33, as best shown in Fig. 5. The teeth of the gear 30, areformed by punching apertures 34, near the periphery of the diskcomposing the gear, two diametrically opposite teeth, however, beingformed by the notches 35, as best shown in Fig. 6. These notches engagewith lugs 36, integral with the member 28, when the parts are inunlocked position.

At other times the lugs 36, lie in front of the gear, as best shoivn inF ig. 6. This prevents separation of the lock from its coperating partsexcept When in unlocked position. When the Wire is disconnected at itslower end and the fastening ring l2, is removed from the casing, if thelock is moved to unlocked position, the entire lock may be moved out ot'the casing. This makes the operation of assembling comparatively simple.

One of the important features is the method employed for securing areciprocatory motion in right lines Wit-hout the possibility of binding.The gear attached to the lock barrel engages the peripheries of theright angularly disposed gears 2G, 2?, rotating the same in oppositedirections. The slots 29, in the yoke permit the pins which engagetherewith to move in opposite 'directions Without interfering with theright line movement of the yoke. This gives rise to another advantage.It Will be seen that when the yoke is in either of its extremeposit-ions, a thrust exerted on Athe Wire, as when attempting to cutthecable, Will be exerted in line with the axis of the gears and will beineffective toward rotating the gears. This is essential in connectionWith a further locking provision which forms the subject matter of aco-pending application, it being essential in connection with that'feature that the Wire shall not be subject to elongation.

bviously the construction is capable of much modification and thedesired result may be secured by the use of other 1nechanisms than heredisclosed. I do not Wish to be limited other than as indicated in theappended claims.

I claim:

l. In a lockingdevice, the combination of a casing,`a conduit connectedthereto, a Wire in said conduit, a rotatable locking element, a pair ofgears located in a plane transverse to the arc of rotation of thelocking element, and means operable by the gears for reciprocating saidWire, substantially as described.

2. In an automobile lock, the combination of a casing, a conduitconnected thereto, a Wire in said conduit, a gear operated by said lock,a pair of gears meshing with said first mentioned gear and mounted onpivots transverse to the pivot of said first gear, and means operable bysaid pair of gears for reciprocating said Wire, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a locking device for automobiles, the combination of a frame, arotatable lock reveal@ mounted in the open end of said frame, a gearsecured to the inner end of said lock, the

teeth of said gear being in the form of apertures located near theperiphery of the gear, one of the apertures being in the form of a notchin the periphery, and a lock on the frame, said lock being so positionedas to register with said notch only when the lock is in unlockedposition, substantially as described.

la In combination, a casing, a conduit con` nec-ted thereto, a Wire insaid conduit, a frame in the casing, a lock interlocked with said frame,a toothed disk secured to the lock, a pair of gears secured tothe frameand meshing with the teeth of said disk, and

.means for connecting the Wire to said gears whereby the rotary motionof the lock is changed to reciprocating motion of the Wire,substantially as described.

5. In a locking device, the combination of acasing, a conduit connectedthereto, a Wire in said conduit, a lock in the casing, means operable bythe lock for causing a reciprocating motion of said Wire, and a swivelconnection between the lock and said Wire for permitting rotation of theWire on its longitudinal axis, substantially `as described.

6. In a locking device, the combination of a casing, a lock therein, avalve-operating Wire, and means operable by said lock for changing therotary motion of the lock into a reciprocating motion of the Wire inline with the longitudinal aXis of the lock, substantially as described.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a lock havinga barrel, a valve-operating Wire, and means operable by the rotation ofthe lock barrel for changing the rotary movement of the barrel intolongitudinal movement of the Wire in line With the longitudinal axis ofthe barrel, substantially as described.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a lock barrel,a stiE Wire adapted to be operated thereby, means for changing therotary movement of the barrel into positive, longitudinal, reciprocatingmovement of the Wire in line With the longitudinal aXisof the barrel,and means in the connection betweenv the Wire and the lock' permittingrotation of the wire on its longitudinal aXis, substantially asdescribed.

Signed at Chicago, Ill., this 9th day of June, 1917.

THEODORE C. RIEBE. Witness:

T, D. BUTLER.

